First off, you should know that what you read here is just good information. Use us or don’t use us. We’re just here to help and guide any member in the right direction if we can.
You are probably looking into this because you’ve heard that you can make substantial amounts of profit from doing a DITY / PPM yourself or you have heard a lot of horror stories lately of people using TMO.
Yes, both of those are true. But in this short explanation we also have reasons and things you probably haven’t thought about.
First, TMO horror stories are true. TMO is a division of the military that subcontracts your move to your new unit to moving companies. The major problem is that no one goes in front of their class in 5th grade and said, “when I grow up, I want to be a minimum wage paid mover”. Now, there is nothing wrong with minimum paid jobs. But the moving industry is known to have the lowest standards requirements for employment.
Unfortunately here’s the facts.
Most moving company’s employees are adults who are unreliable and don’t hold a job very well. There is a high chance that at a minimum, one of the employees showing up to your home is addicted and using a substance and EVEN THOUGH TMO REQURES drug and background checks for employees, it’s very easy for a company to send employees to your home off base that they know won’t pass the requirements. (the crazier part is we’ve been hearing of members who live on base encountering these employees) We all know the stories of movers showing up drunk, high, or even examples of someone smelling a line of sugar in the clients shed. (Yes the CEO of Patriot Truckerz personally had this happen to them on one of their PCS)
Now, the GS or military personnel who work in TMO are not the problem. They are bound and required by certain requirements of fair trade and laws. Also, their list of “qualified movers” is getting shorter and shorter. Finally, they can’t personally make sure that the moving company employees actually show up, they are drug and alcohol free, and they won’t steal your items.
So don’t blame them personally!
Secondly, and most importantly, YES! The “too good to be true” numbers you are hearing at the unit of what someone was paid PCS themselves is true! Right now the office of military members transportation and PCS is paying members top dollar to move themselves because they can’t supply the demand for members PCS. If you PCS yourself, you can make a nice “bonus” even if you’re only going 250 miles!
So don’t purge before you leave! It’s one of the biggest mistakes in the military. Move all that weight because it will help you get your max weight for your max refund. Also, you don’t know exactly what your new home will be like. Once you’re moved into your new home and everything has a place, that’s the time to purge. (It will also make you more liked by you’re new neighbors because you’re giving them stuff for free! haha)
But here’s the real reason you should PCS yourself.
YOU GET TO BE IN CHARGE OF WHEN AND WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR HHG!
You’re in charge of what day your HHG have to leave for your new unit.
You’re in charge of when your HHG arrive at your new home.
You get to choose who packs your HHG. You can choose to do it yourself or you can start calling local moving companies to do whats called a “packout” and they will come pack as much or as little as you want them to.
You’re in charge of how your HHG gets packed and your valuables actually get to be treated as valuables, and not just “thrown in”.
BEST PART…you make extra money outside of your DLA, Mileage, & Per diem. Unlike the TMO movers, extra money has never made anyone upset.
